The Humbling River
by BrokenHallelujahs
Summary: Collection of one-shots set in a universe where our merry band of misfits is somewhat happy and sailing for the coast of Alaska. Alice/Claire.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Own not. Profit not. Sue not.

A/N: Sooo this is my take on how Alice would solve the problem of Umbrella party crashing... _again_.

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><p>"Trouble," Alice declared and couldn't suppress the grimace that snaked over her face as she silently counted the Ospreys she could see. As she took in the seemingly endless horde coming their way she suddenly realized what had to be done.<p>

"Get everyone below deck. Now," she snapped and moved forward, away from Chris and Claire.

"Alice?" Claire's voice made the older woman pause, she turned to regard the redhead and found Claire standing directly behind her, confusion cloudy in her blue eyes.

"Claire, just go," she took hold of Claire's wrists, firmly, and gave her a hard look. There would be no arguing about this. No talking her out of it. No matter how much she desperately wanted it to work out differently, Umbrella had once again ruined her brief moment of triumph. "Please, go. I need you to be safe."

"What are you going to do?"

Alice could see the turmoil written on Claire's face in the way her lower lip barely trembled, the way the younger woman bit down on it to hide that fact; her eyebrows knit together and her eyes were wide and startlingly blue. All Alice wanted to do was take hold of her and assure her that it was going to be okay. That they were going to be fine. That she, Alice, was the invincible superhuman that would save the day and give them all the peace they had so rightfully earned.

It would be a baldfaced lie, and she just didn't have the heart to do that to Claire. The other woman looked so much younger in the moment, achingly beautiful and so very young. Claire was their hope; Alice's hope, the convoys hope, most likely Chris's hope. If anyone was going to survive the hell they were in and lead the survivors to a new life - it would be the fiery redhead. Claire was the heart and soul of Alice's humanity, she had no doubt she would be a light to everyone else.

"I'm going to burn some more crows," Alice said cryptically, arching an eyebrow for some forced bravado. She had no idea if Claire even remembered the infected flock, but she saw realization dawn in Claire's eyes and faked a smirk for her lover. "Now go."

But Claire shook her head and stepped forward, crowding into Alice's personal space a little closer than most polite company would venture. "No. No, Alice, you said Wesker stripped you of those abilities. I'm not going to let you play up your little messiah complex. I'm staying with you. We fight together."

"I had a feeling you were going to say that," Alice said regretfully and with a sad smile pushed Claire back, hard, in the direction of the man who claimed to be the redheads brother. "Chris, take her and get them all below deck. We don't have much time."

Chris caught Claire around the waist, nodded shortly and started tugging her with him, shouting to the others, "Get back inside! Everyone! Back inside!"

"Alice!" Claire cried, fighting to get Chris's arm off her.

"Go!" Alice ordered and wrenched her gaze away from the pair. The cold air coming up off the ocean slapped her in the face, blowing her hair back and biting at her skin and eyes. The Umbrella fleet was so much closer now. She would have to hurry.

"Come on," she urged herself out loud and narrowed her eyes, willing the power swimming in her blood to come back to life. Just one more time. "Come on!" She clasped her hands together and brought them up to her forehead, praying for or trying to will her abilities back into existence. Maybe a bit of both.

"Just one more time," she whispered, "Please. Let something work in my favor just this one time."

She needed it to, for the survival of humanity. For Claire.

It was still there. Alice felt it, the raw strength and frightening force the T-Virus had granted her. It sang in her head like some sick, twisted, symphony. No matter how human she might now feel, how limited and frail, it was always there, lingering in her system like a bad cold. Like the virus it was.

"Please," she said again. "I don't have much time."

With a gasp she felt the first rush of sensation that always signaled the opening up of her mind; that heralded the appearance of the doomsday weapon that Umbrella had created in her.

At the edge of her mind she could feel the enormity of what she was doing, how much it would cost her. It only strengthened her resolve. She'd always known that it would ultimately come down to this, this was her price to pay for atonement. She tightened her hands into fists at her side and focused on letting the pressure building in her skull escalate until the pain dropped her to her knees. She felt liquid leaving her eyes, her nose, her ears, knew as it hit her lips that it was blood, but she had only one chance at this, so she ignored all of it, waiting for that moment of clarity. It clicked in her mind and her body was flooded with adrenaline, so hard and fast that it felt like an electric shock to her system. Her eyes flew open as the live wire that was her mental abilities sparked and flared to life. It was, as always, a strange sensation and if she could compare it to anything, she'd have to go with being struck by lightening. Everything slowed and she could see the most minute of details, hear the tiniest sounds amongst the clamor of helicopter blades slicing through the air. Her body tingled in an almost unpleasant way, she shrugged a slim shoulder against it and set her jaw as she took in the now slow moving Ospreys.

Surprise rose in her chest as she caught a brief glimmer of someone familiar, their thoughts were dark, clouded, and directed as they brushed against hers.

_Jill_?

She immediately adjusted to compensate - she would spare Jill.

But the rest...

Closing her eyes again, tightly this time, she pushed through the fire consuming her, looking for what she remembered felt like ice against the flame. Her whole body felt like it was burning, no longer vaguely unpleasant but completely agonizing. It started as a hot coal where her heart used to be and then slowly licked its way outward, flowing through her veins and lighting up her extremities. She knew she was screaming, her throat was already raw and her lungs were howling in torturous harmony. Finally she fumbled upon the blank cold, it was the only way she knew to think of it, cold, and focused upon it with all her might, thinking only one word: burn.

All the power, the energy, intensified to unbearable levels, and then she pushed at it and sent it flying outward in the direction of the Umbrella force. Her eyes flashed open again as she felt it leave her and her body began to fall. The darkness rimming her vision grew darker, deeper, closing in. She hit the cool, slick, wetness of the deck on her back and what was left of her breath left her abused lungs in a rush. She had time for one thought, one last wish, before she willing let herself slip into the calling blackness.

_I hope Claire went below deck._

"Alice!"

She felt consciousness return in one fire-laced inhalation. Groggy disorientation gave way to sheer panic as she returned to herself but only saw black. Not the lake of fire she'd been expecting to find herself in, that was oddly comforting, but instead a never ending blackness.

"Alice, please," the voice called again. Familiar, but she couldn't remember who it was.

Awareness of her body came back slowly, a damp cold creeped it's way into her back and limbs, making her shiver involuntarily. Then the pain returned in a heavy, dull, ache that she felt even in her teeth. A groan made it's way free from her torn throat and clenched teeth, vibrating in her skull in the worst way.

"Alice?"

Then she realized why it was so dark. It was a struggle but she finally managed to open her eyes and light flooded back in. She groaned a second time and quickly returned her eyelids to their previous position, shielding herself from the harsh glare of the sun. Her eyes felt gummy, her eyelashes were glued together. She jumped when something featherlight and gentle touched her face, running along her eyes to alleviate the stickiness. Her stomach lurched as she remembered the coppery taste of blood in her mouth and realized that it was her blood that had begun to dry on her eyelids.

"Open your eyes, please."

Recognition now dawned, and she immediately did as asked, grateful when a shadow came across her vision and blocked the sun from her.

"Claire?" It hurt to speak, but she had to. The redhead filling her vision smiled down at her and adjusted to sit fully on the cold deck of the ship they were on, she pulled Alice's shoulders a little further into her lap and nodded.

"Yeah. Claire." She seemed amused about something, there was a small smile on her chapped, yet still tempting, lips. Alice could also see the concern etched deep in her features. Her smaller hands were stroking against her forehead and dipping into her wet hair, and she could feel them trembling. "Do you know where you are? How do you feel?"

"Arcadia," Alice croaked and wished she had some ice cubes to battle the blaze in her vocal chords. "Anesthetized. Umbrella?"

"Went the way of the crows," Claire said with a fond shake of her head. "You seem to have this thing about flying objects."

"Had to protect you," she said weakly and tried to get her heavy limbs to move. She wanted to touch Claire, to assure them both that she was really alive still. Somehow. "Had to fix it."

"You don't have to die, you strange, wonderful, _crazy_ woman," Claire hissed, eyes flashing. "You listen to me, it's not your fault or your price to pay, so do us both a favor and quit trying to get yourself killed."

"Sorry," Alice mumbled, still trying to get her hands to cooperate with her. Everything felt like it'd been injected with Novocaine.

"No you're not," the younger woman sighed and reached down to grab Alice's pathetically waving fingers. She brought up the captured hand and set it against her face.

"I'm not," the brunette agreed, pleased to feel the soft skin of Claire's cheek beneath her palm. Her lover watched her for a moment, her eyes flickering back and forth as they stared into hers. She put her tiny hand against Alice's much larger one and turned to press a kiss against her palm.

"Come on, let's get you inside before something else happens," she huffed after a few seconds. She slipped out from under Alice gracefully then helped the wobbly woman to her feet. Her arm circled Alice's trim waist, steadying her by pulling her close into her side. Alice leaned into her welcome strength and couldn't help but stare at the side of her young lovers face.

"Claire?"

"I know," Claire said and met her gaze with a soft smile. "I know."

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><p>End<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: This chapter takes place in a happy AU world in which Umbrella didn't muck up the happy ending with their overkill flock of soldier laden Ospreys.

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><p>Claire shielded her eyes from the bright glare of the sun and squinted to see the last vestiges of Wesker's Osprey fall into the ocean. She turned with a ready grin only to have it falter and then fail completely as her eyes came to rest a little more fully on Alice. The brunette was still staring up at the sky, but her face was paler than it should have been and as Claire adjusted to see better she noticed Alice's blue eyes were clouded and glazed. Her frown deepened as she scanned the lean body next to hers, anxiety leaping a notch higher as she realized her lover was swaying ever so slightly. Then she saw the drips of crimson on the deck next to Alice's foot, she followed it up and her stomach clenched as she took in the bloody mess that was Alice's arm.<p>

"Alice!" She said sharply, and sprang into action. It was hard to believe that Alice hadn't noticed her injury, or bothered to say anything about it. Claire clamped her hand down hard over the older woman's forearm, unable to discern where the actual wound was, but she knew the general area. "You're bleeding!"

Alice's confused gaze slid away from the destruction she'd caused to meet Claire's worried one. "You noticed that huh?"

"Jesus," Claire hissed and started maneuvering the delirious brunette back towards the bridge, barely caring that Chris was following them. "Were you planning on telling me before you bled out?"

"'s just a flesh wound," Alice rasped, though she leaned heavily onto the redhead as they briskly walked towards the steep metal stairs.

"The hell it is," Claire snapped, "Chris, get the door open."

The ex-prisoner rushed ahead of them to do as asked, smart blue eyes never leaving Claire as she hobbled up the last steps, now supporting most of Alice's weight as the older woman sagged suddenly. "Do you need some help?"

"Yeah, I have a feeling she's going to need stitches, can you find me a first aid kit?" She hurried past him and winced as she tried to deposit her burden gently on the bench seat facing the worn navigation table. Alice all but collapsed into the leather and finally seemed to look slightly fazed by what was going on. The look on her face scared Claire, "Chris. Hurry."

He did as asked, bolting out of the bridge in a flurry of stomping steps, while Claire reached out again for Alice. She pulled the brunette up and tried to hide her concern with a chuckle as she settled Alice against her once more, her hand back against the still bleeding arm.

"Why didn't you say something?"

"I forgot that I bleed," Alice mumbled, her own shaking fingers moving over Claire's skin to grip the redheads elbow tightly.

Claire snorted, "We can discuss these delusions of grandeur later. Do you know what happened?"

"Bennet put a scalpel through it," the rapidly fading woman answered, with a brief flash of ire in the depths of her eyes. Claire growled low in her throat, and then the whole sentence registered.

"Wait - through it?"

A short nod was her only response. _Where the fuck is Chris!_

As though he'd heard her somewhat desperate mental plea, the haggard looking man reappeared, modest first aid kit in hand. "It's just basic," he said as he opened it and placed it on the table in front of Claire. "But it's got needle and thread, and some rubbing alcohol."

Claire let her gaze jump up to his face, this gruff man who called himself her brother, "Thanks," she breathed and dug into the plastic container to fish out the needed supplies. "I can take it from here, will you go and take care of the others? There's a couple hundred very confused people wandering around the ship. They probably shouldn't explore too far until we figure out what else is on board."

He stared at her for a moment longer than necessary, a slow grin working to crack his mask, "Sure," he grumbled, "Bossy."

She spared him one last, pointed, look before she bent back to her task, arranging her tools neatly. His footsteps clomped against the floor and eventually disappeared. She shook her head and picked up Alice's arm gently. The older woman twitched and rolled her head around lazily to look up at Claire.

"Ow," she stated flatly.

Claire schooled her features as best she could, she could barely keep her fingers from shaking as she peeled back the black gauntlet Alice had covering her wrist and forearm. "Sorry."

Alice peered down at her own arm, her brow furrowed and nose wrinkled as she took in the damage. "Maybe a little more than a flesh wound."

"It's not too bad," the redhead assured her, inwardly wincing as she lied. "I'll just stitch you up and you'll be back to shooting those sawed off beauties of yours one handed again in no time." She ripped open a sterile gauze pad and poured a good amount of rubbing alcohol on it. Alice caught her apologetic look and seemed to understand it as she glanced down at the alcohol soaked pad, her still bleeding arm, and Claire's expression. The older woman sighed, arched her head until her neck popped audibly, closed her eyes wearily and nodded again. Claire bit her lip and swiftly ran the fabric over both the entrance and exit wound. "Sorry, sorry, sorry," she murmured at Alice's involuntary hiss of pain. She repeated the process with a fresh pad.

"Just get it over with," Alice ground out, turning her head into Claire's available shoulder for comfort.

Exhaustion struck hard at Claire as she thread a needle and liberally dosed it with the rubbing alcohol. Her entire body ached with the days trials and she suddenly wished it to be over, just wanting some sleep. "This is going to hurt," she sighed and prepared to close the gash in Alice's arm. The other woman grunted against her shoulder. Claire waited a moment longer, but when nothing else was said decided that the grunt had been the only permission she was likely to receive. As she began to expertly lace the black thread through skin, Alice made a small choked noise and then fell silent again, shuddering at each pull of the needle

Claire focused hard on her work, chewing on her lip as she stitched her lovers arm back together, pausing momentarily only to wipe blood away. It happened upon her that she had no idea where or how she had learned to do this - and she was proving far too adroit to have just 'picked it up'. The where, why, and who had taught her to be an impromptu nurse, could be useful information. Perhaps not to anyone else, but she would like to know, because as she looked at Alice's freshly closed entrance wound she _knew_ she'd done a good job, an excellent job, which meant she'd had a good teacher. She clipped the excess thread with a pair of blunt little scissors and set her steadied fingers against Alice's cheek tenderly. "Can you turn your arm over?"

The groggy woman did as asked with a sharp exhale against Claire's collarbone. The redhead let her touch linger a second longer before she picked up the needle again. She was halfway through when Chris returned, startling both her and Alice. He had the good grace to look sheepish, "Sorry."

Claire snorted, and unwilling to be distracted she turned away from him, her full attention on sewing up Alice's arm.

"I see Daddy's girl remembers her lessons," he commented after a few moments. Claire's eyes snapped back to him immediately, her nimble fingers ceased their practiced movements.

"Excuse me?"

The corner of Chris's eyes drooped a little and Claire felt her stomach lurch. If she hadn't believed he was her brother before, the look on his face now had her convinced. "The sutures, Claire, our father was a surgeon, he taught you how to do that."

_Our father_, Claire jerked at the term and set her jaw, immediately starting up where she had stopped. Alice's hand squeezed warmly against her knee where it rested. In her minds eye she pictured a stern looking man with neat graying hair, a strong jaw, and kind blue eyes. She could remember soft smiles and gentle hands, a deep rumbling voice soothing her nightmares.

"Sorry, Claire," Chris' voice pulled her free of the scattered memories.

She blinked away the moisture clouding her vision and cleared her throat while she twisted her head against the turbulent emotions. Her hands trembled as she clipped the exit wound's spare thread.

"Hey," Alice's soft voice sounded from beneath her chin, Claire arched her neck to look down at her. Big pain filled blue eyes blinked up at her, a small frown pulled at her pink lips. "Don't worry about it right now. You've got time."

She sighed and nodded her head, "Yeah, time. Did you get everyone else settled?"

Chris's eyes were flickering from Claire to Alice and back, his face a mask except for those flickering, questioning, baby blues. "Yeah, there's a couple mess halls of sorts - probably for the Umbrella workers - they're all in there with strict orders not to move. Should keep them contained and content for awhile. Food tends to have a calming effect."

"Good," Alice spoke up and then sat up with a wince. Claire moved to steady her, concerned at her sudden movements. "I don't mean to mother hen, or sound like a wuss, but," she quirked an eyebrow at Claire and shook her head. "I need some sleep, I feel a little beat up and I'm willing to bet you guys are too."

Chris crossed his arms, "I'm not really that tired. Been cooped up in a glorified hamster house for too long. You two probably should try and recharge though." His eyes narrowed at the pair knowingly.

"Recharge?" Claire asked, "Alice might be the latest model Terminator, but I don't run on batteries."

"Ah, there's that Claire wit, how I've missed it," Chris rolled his eyes. "Look, I'm going to go keep a lookout, or whatever, why don't you give that sly little mind of yours a break. You both look like hell."

Without another word he took off, leaving Claire glaring at his back and Alice chuckling quietly beside her.

"Yeah, laugh it up chuckles," Claire grumbled, peevishly looking down at the brunette. "I think he may suspect something."

"What gave you that idea?" Alice rasped and nuzzled a little further into Claire's side.

"You don't care?"

"You shouldn't answer a question with a question," Alice's lips tickled against the redheads skin, she shifted slightly against the sensation. "And no, I don't really give a fuck what he knows, doesn't know, or suspects he knows."

Claire laughed now, despite herself and dropped a tender kiss to her lovers dirty hair. "Alright, alright. Well, as much as I hate to admit it, he is right. You definitely need to regain some strength and I'm damn near dead on my feet."

"Damn near?"

"Yes," Claire wormed her way out of the booth and helped Alice up next to her. "Damn near. Now if you're done with making fun of me, let's see if we can find ourselves a room."

"But we didn't check in," Alice protested as Claire wrapped an arm around her and started leading her out of the room. There was a door at the back, that Claire guessed would lead down onto the next floor. Sure enough, the door revealed a staircase leading deeper into The Arcadia. Alice groaned at the sight of all the stairs.

"I handled the reservation earlier, dear," the redhead sighed as they started down, stumbling a bit. She adjusted her grip on Alice, holding onto her hip firmly as they stepped together. "They even took our bags up for us, wasn't that nice?"

"Now who's making fun of who?"

"You set yourself up," Claire mumbled and shoved open the first door she came across. "And that was answering a question with a question."

The room was sparse, a bed, end table, and mirror took up most of the space, but it was still nicer than even the prison cell had been. Claire took it all in as she pulled Alice along with her towards the small bed. "We'll have to take a look for more crew quarters later," she remarked and let the brunette down on the bunk. "We've got a lot of people to put up."

Alice groaned and laid back, non-injured arm coming up to cover her eyes wearily. "Can we talk about it later?"

Claire felt her mouth twist into a loving smile as she took in the other woman, splayed out and probably already half-asleep. "Yes, we can talk about it later. You going to make room for me, or am I supposed to sleep on the floor?"

"Fine, but don't steal all the blankets this time," Alice shot back, not even bothering to move her arm as she squirmed over to make room.

"Deal, as long as you don't snore in my ear," the redhead joked, then with a soft 'tsk' dipped lower and started tugging at Alice's various holsters and belts. "What the hell are you wearing?" She jokingly complained as she tried to get Alice's boots off.

"Sweetheart, as much as I would normally be game, I think I'm actually too tired," Alice let her arm flop onto the mattress and quirked an eyebrow up at the younger woman. Claire grinned and waggled her eyebrows suggestively, though she really had no intent on anything other than getting Alice more comfortable. "Besides, I'd hate to fuck up those pretty little stitches."

"Just go to sleep, you," Claire grumbled affectionately, and settled next to her after removing her own various belts, weapons, and shoes. The older woman shifted again, rotating onto her hip so she was facing the wall. Already groggy, just at laying down, Claire found the energy needed to shuffle forward and pull Alice back against her.

"Blanket?" Alice murmured, Claire sighed against her neck and fumbled under them for the hem of the requested item.

"Lift up," she commanded gently and tugged the old wool blanket down far enough for them to get their legs under.

"Better."

Warm and comfortable, it took only seconds for the beaten women to succumb to their exhaustion.

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><p>END<p> 


End file.
